


stories untold

by gigglesandfreckles



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, FebuWhump2021, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Storytelling, Tatooine Folklore (Star Wars), Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 10:48:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29294673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gigglesandfreckles/pseuds/gigglesandfreckles
Summary: as Ahsoka and Anakin wait for help, Anakin tells a story. an ancient monster in the heart of Tatooine...waiting for it's day of reckoning.[or: Ahsoka gets dehydrated and Anakin can't deny his hurting sister/padawan anything so he talks a little bit about home.]
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Shmi Skywalker
Comments: 10
Kudos: 148





	stories untold

**Author's Note:**

> this is for the day 8 febuwhump prompt: 'hey, hey. this is no time to sleep.'
> 
> decided to post this one on here because it's something I'll possibly revisit one day and it's easier to archive it here, for my own selfish purposes. hehe! also, disclaimer: no idea how montrals actually work and wookieepedia let me down on this one.

Dehydration affects different species differently. Even an idiot knew that.

But apparently Anakin underestimated how much of an idiot _he_ is by not knowing exactly how much water his Padawan would need to not have a kriffing _heat stroke._

She’d been complaining of thirst for a couple hours, but he told her what he’d told the men. “Should’ve drank more water yesterday.” They had a mission to do. He couldn’t put it on pause just so they could stop in to a local market and get _beverages_. 

But he didn’t know how prolonged time without water would affect the sensitivity of Ahsoka’s montrals or how it would prevent blood from properly flowing to her _heart_.

They’re ducked under a tree now. It was a tropical sort of plant and the leaves left plenty of room for harsh sunlight to bear through and down on them, but it’s the best he could do given the speedy deterioration of Ahsoka’s mobility and consciousness.

Rex was on his way with Kix, a med-pac, and _so much water._

So they waited.

“Hey, _hey_.” he said, shaking her shoulders again. “This is no time to sleep.”

Her eyelids fluttered. “But you...you always say I should rest...more.” Her neck shifted against the trunk of the tree as she leans against it. Too limp.

“I was wrong,” Anakin said. “Totally and completely wrong.”

“I’m gonna…” she shivered. “I’m gonna need that in writing.”

“Are you _cold?_ ” he asked incredulously.

She gave a fraction of a nod. “Freezing.”

“Snips, it’s...this planet is hotter than Tatooine…”

“Tatooine?” she sighed, her eyes closing. He couldn’t tell if she was just repeating him or questioning the origin of the word. Their first mission had been on Tatooine. If she had forgotten _that_ –

He jostled her again, pulling her further into his lap. “Tatooine. My home planet.”

“You never–” Another shiver. “You never talk about it.”

He shifted. “There’s not much to tell.”

“Please?”

And looking at the shivering girl laid against him, he realised he never really even had a choice in the matter.

“Well, it’s hot.”

Ahsoka snorted, her chest heaving awkwardly as she struggled to do so. He squeezed her shoulder, trying to stabilise her.

“Don’t do that.”

“Can’t...can’t help it,” she rasped. “You’re funny.”

“I’m gonna need that in writing.”

Her smile didn’t reach her eyes. But at least her eyes were open now. She looked up at him expectantly.

“At double noon, the suns would create this shadow across the Dune Sea. It’s not _really_ a sea because there’s no naturally occurring water on the planet, but–it used to be. There’s an ancient story…” He paused, remembering. “My mother used to tell me.”

“Tell me,” she said softly.

“Ahsoka,” he sighed. Because it was too much. To ask him to relive that happiness, that warmth. It hurt. And he thought he might bust open if he tried.

“Master, please,” she begged in a voice so quiet he almost didn’t hear it.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Tatooine wasn’t always so close to it’s suns. An asteroid impact shifted its orbit, thousands of years ago. But before that, the Dune Sea was the largest open ocean in the Outer Rim. It was host to all kinds of creatures and fishermen would hire pilots to bring them from all over the galaxy to fish the sea in month-long rotations.” Her shivering continued and his frown deepened. He grabbed the robe he had shucked hours ago and draped it across her, tucking it in on the sides. 

She smiled gratefully.

“When the orbit shifted, the suns dried up the sea in less than one revolution. The fishermen stopped coming and...that’s when the economy on the planet flopped. The fishing industry and nearby crops all failed. People were starving and impoverished, which…” He paused. “Is when the Hutts moved in. They thrive in that chaos, inflicting their mobs and harsh government over planets that have nothing.” He stopped, thinking of Gardulla and her gambling addiction. How she hadn’t stopped short of gambling away all of her possessions, even _people_. That’s what they were to her–possessions.

“Keep going,” Ahsoka whispered.

“With the Hutts come...well, slaves.” He swallowed, keeping his voice even. “At first, they were imported from off-world. But eventually...people started volunteering to serve the Hutts. They thought that...they figured at least they’d have food for their children.” Ahsoka shifted in his lap. Anakin looked down to see her hand clumsily reaching out. It found his and clasped around it.

He realised he was the one shivering.

“Then, the Hutts invaded homes and the few businesses that still existed. There wasn’t a choice anymore. Men, women, _children_ –they were forced into slavery.”

“Master...”

“The Skywalkers have been on Tatooine since before any written history of the planet exists. They were proud to be from Tatooine. The land worked for them and made them prosper. My mother...she says they were happy. And then the Hutts–” He shut his eyes. “They separated my family. Broke them up and forced them to different sectors of the planet, forcing them to work. When you’re a slave, there’s–Ahsoka, there’s no breaking that cycle. It’s forever.”

“ _You_ broke it.”

 _No, I didn’t_.

“My whole life, I watched people who were born into slavery _die_ in it.”

_So will I. I don’t have a choice._

“But the story–my mom used to say that when the Dune Sea dried up...when all the creatures in it died. One survived. It’s called the Sarlacc. It...adapted. Evolved…. _hey_. Wake up, Snips.”

“Tired,” she sighed weakly.

“You have to hear how the story ends.”

A shiver. “Okay.”

“The Sarlacc learned to live, not on the land, but _in it_. Legend says there’s a pit. And when the Hutts came to Tatooine, when they started to raid and force people into slavery...the Sarlacc could feel the pain of the planet. It absorbed it.”

He’d always loved this part of the story. His mother would push his hair off his forehead and drop her head down toward his, whispering so it tickled his ears.

“The Sarlacc fought back.”

Her Force signature was weak, but Anakin felt his Padawan light up the slightest bit at that.

He smiled, like his mother always had. “It moved in the earth and protected the people of Tatooine. Killed the slavers and entrapped their villages.”

“So what...happened to it?” she managed.

“No one knows. The Hutts still believe it’s out there.”

She blinked up at him. “And–you?”

He felt like a youngling again. Five-years-old, tucked into the bed he shared with his mom. “I think it’s waiting.”

“Waiting?”

“The Hutts are arrogant. But they’re also _afraid_. I think one day...one day they’re going to misstep. Miscalculate. Someone more powerful than them is going to beat them at their own game and–the Sarlacc will be ready.” He smiled wistfully and huffed a breathless laugh. “I always thought it would be me.”

“It still could.”

“Nah,” he squeezed Ahsoka’s hand. “That’s not my place anymore. Now that my mother’s–” He paused and felt his chest clench. Cold. Darkness. Screams. “I’ll never go back there.”

“So…” Ahsoka shifted again, pulling the robe tighter around her. “So who’s gonna do it? Who’s gonna...wake the Sarlacc? Avenge the slaves of Tatooine?”

Anakin thought about it for a moment. He’d spent so many years, plotting and planning. Justice, for the sake of peace. That’s what he’d always wanted. He’d do the hard thing to achieve the greatest good, like his mom had taught him.

But he’d failed. Killing the Tusken raiders–that was the _easy_ thing. And it had been _so easy_. That wasn’t justice and it certainly wasn’t peace. It was anger, hatred. Darkness. He couldn’t go back there.

“Someone who’s more like the man I always thought I’d become,” he settled on. “The man Mom wanted me to be.”

**Author's Note:**

> and guess what!!!! someone exactly like that DOES come along. and he happens to be a Skywalker, too, Anakin! :-)
> 
> thanks for reading, as always! kudos, comments, and all the love are so appreciated! have a lovely Monday, my friends.
> 
> for more febuwhump (and other general Star Wars screaming) follow me on my [ tumblr ](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/giggles-and-freckles)!


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